CLEVELAND, OHIO - NOVEMBER 16: Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns scrambles with the ball against the Baltimore Ravens during the fourth quarter at Huntington Bank Field on November 16, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
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CLEVELAND, OHIO - NOVEMBER 16: Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns scrambles with the ball against the Baltimore Ravens during the fourth quarter at Huntington Bank Field on November 16, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
Back in 2014, when the Browns were going with Brian Hoyer as the starter but had begun their brief dalliance with Johnny Manziel, the mercurial first-round pick from Texas A&M, their leading receiver was Andrew Hawkins, the former undrafted free agent who had worked his way into a starting NFL role. Hawkins led the Browns with 63 catches and 824 yards that season.
Hawkins saw how the drafting and the flaming out of Manziel ultimately cost his coach, Mike Pettine, his job in Cleveland. And now, just about a decade after Pettine was fired, Hawkins is watching a similar movie unfold in Cleveland.
There are differences, of course. The Browns have cycled through veteran Joe Flacco at quarterback before he was traded. They turned to third-round pick Dillon Gabriel, until he suffered a concussion. Now they’re on to fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders, a lightning-rod rookie because of his enormous fame while in college at Colorado and his subsequent stunning draft-day drop in April.
Browns Facing ‘No-Win Situation’
But what Hawkins sees for the Browns, and especially coach Kevin Stefanski, is a no-win situation. Sure, they want Sanders to play well in his first NFL start against the Raiders this Sunday. There’s a Catch-22 here though: If Sanders plays well and the Browns win, Stefanski’s judgment will by severely questioned.
Stefanski, then, will look bad if Sanders struggles and the Browns lose to go to 2-10. He will look bad, too, if Sanders plays well and wins.
That’s how Hawkins, speaking on the ESPN morning show, “Get Up” sees it: “Kevin Stefanski is truly in a no-win situation because, to your point, if he plays bad, then it is a bad situation. But the worst thing that could probably happen for Kevin Stefanski is that he goes out and balls because then it is gonna be, ‘Why hasn’t he played from the very beginning?’
“And that’s why I can’t wait to see it.”
Shedeur Sanders Expectations Should Be ‘Tempered’
Hawkins’ ESPN colleague, former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, weighed in to suggest that the Browns don’t really have to worry about that–the team’s offense is so bad, he said, that there’s no way Sanders can rescue it.
Orlovsky said there should be a low bar to success for Sanders.
“Temper expectations. The Browns are bad,” he said. “Talent-wise, they’re probably one of the three least talented offenses in the NFL. So let’s not expect that Shedeur is gonna step onto the field against a Maxx Crosby defense. …
“They don’t have a good receiving group, and they don’t have a good offensive line. What you want to see from Shedeur: Can you handle the huddle? Can you operate, can you play quick and clean? And then can you move up in the pocket?”
Browns Not Giving Shedeur Sanders a ‘Fair Chance’
While it might seem that Stefanski is in a no-win situation for the Browns, Orlovsky sees the same plight for Sanders, because even if he plays well in some ways, he will make mistakes and Cleveland is likely to struggle. It’s just what happens for quarterbacks making their first start.
Yes, Sanders is getting a chance, but Orlovsky said, “It’s not a fair chance. Life in the NFL is not fair but it’s not chance—my thing is this: if he struggles, people are gonna go, ‘Told you Shedeur stinks.’ No. Any quarterback’s going to stink in Cleveland.”